Highway to the...

Carnage Asada 2016 is almost upon us. By popular demand, the Top Gun Tournament of Champions is back! This year's mission is to destroy an Ork convoy before it can escape off the far (12') end of the tables. There will be lots of Ork anti-aircraft and targets of opportunity to distract the fighter heroes.

My flyer range has expanded a bit since our last outing. I have added a Heldrake, and a trio of Tyranid mini-Rodans, but no Marine Flyers. I decided to (finally) assemble and paint a Nephilim Fighter for my Dark Angels.

It is a nice kit, no-fuss assembly. I do like its blunt, semi- A-10 Warthog feel. The Ravenwing paint scheme makes for some fast painting.

Good armor, lots of weapons. I'll see how it performs on Monday, raining death upon the Ork hordes.

The Emperor Protects

But Always Bet on Black

Multi-Tool Whirlwind

Waaay back in the early 1990's my Whirlwinds were the backbone of my army for both 40K and Space Marine (Epic). Of course the Marines didn't have a lot to choose from. But that was what made them good. Five different tanks tailored for different roles, all working together.

The Whirlwind was the long range bombardment, sure, but it had a decent anti-tank role as well. There were no rules for aircraft yet, but in the fluff it was said a few times the Whirlwind was the also the Space Marines anti-aircraft platform, which makes perfect sense. Space Marines have some of the best tech of the Imperium, so a AFV that packed multi-purpose missiles fits them perfectly.

I had made a pair of Whirlwinds as shown in White Dwarf #117 using left-over Rhino parts and bases. They rocked.

Then came 2nd edition, and the fancy new metal turret, but weaker rules.

A myriad of newer Space Marine vehicles arrived and the mighty Whirlwind begun its decades long slide into near-uselessness. Forge World brought forth a dedicated anti-aircraft version, The  Hyperios, but it still lacked the utility of the original Whirlwind. The new Hunter/Stalker is a good AA platform but: A)is still only just a AA tank, and B) not for the Blood Angels, Space Wolves, and (most importantly for me), the Dark Angels.

So what to do? House Rule time.  

The Space Marines clearly have the tech for a missile launcher that has different ammo types. The basic Infantry Missile Launcher, and the Typhoon Missile launcher do this well. So should the Whirlwind, just bigger and better. Here in my simple proposal:

The Whirlwind is armed with a Vengeance Missile Launcher. Like the Typhoon launcher, it can be fired one of several different ways each turn.

Frag warhead:  Range:12"-72" Str:5, AP:4, Large blast, Barrage 2
Krak warhead: Range: 48" Str:8, AP:3, Heavy 2

May add one addition missile type:

Incendiary warhead, Range:12"-72" Str:4, AP:5, Large blast, Barrage 2, ignores cover, +15 points
Flakk Missile, Range: 48"  Str:7, AP2, Skyfire 2, +20 points

I think this goes a long way to making the Whirlwind a viable weapon again. It is not as good as any dedicated platform like the Basilisk or Hunter, but it can do it all, and that is what the Marines need.

The Emperor Protects

And Rains Death Upon the Heritics

Dawn of War III

Well. That is a hell of a thing. Now we just have to wait a few months to see any real gameplay shots. Still, I am very excited, here's hoping it has bigger scale battles than Dawn of War II.

What Are You Rebelling Against?

Star Wars: Rebellion is Fantasy Flight's latest Star Wars game and it brings a lot (literally) to the table. It is a grand scale game set right before the events of Episode IV.  It comes with a huge, beautiful, map, and over 150 fantastic plastic miniatures, plus stand-up Leaders, dice, cards and markers. All high-grade Fantasy Flight Games quality.

At first glance it looks like a Axis & Allies or Twilight Imperium style conquer-the-galaxy type game. But it isn't. What we have here is a character driver wargame. Each side has a pool of Leaders who initiate all actions. Missions are the heart of this game. Each player gets a hand of Missions cards, which can be as diverse as Starting work on a second Death Star to recruiting allies for the Rebellion.

Gameplay is not complicated, but many hard choices await you. The turn starts with players assigning Leaders to Missions or holding them in reserve to either move units or challenge enemy Leaders on their Missions. Then players attempt to execute their Missions, taking alternate turns to do so. If a Mission is not challenged it succeeds. A Leader who is in reserve can be sent to a System and have any adjacent unit move to that system. Ground units and TIE fighters have to be carried, and all starships have a transport value. If there is enemy units in that system combat is fought.

Combat is quick and fun, with your Leaders influencing the battle. The battles are fought in space and on the ground in separate steps, with either side able to disengage after a round of combat.

At the end of the turn the Imperial player gets vital Probe Droid cards which inform where the Rebel base isn't. Leaders are recruited and units get built and deployed. The lager units can take up to three turns to construct.

The game ends when the Rebel base is found and destroyed by the Empire, or the Rebellion gets enough Reputation to start a galaxy-wide revolt and unseat the Empire. The turn track marker moves up the track as turns go by, and the Rebel Reputation marker goes down the same track as they complete Objectives. When they meet the Rebels win. It's very unsettling for the Imperial player to watch the two makers slowly move towards each other.

It is not all fun and games for the Rebel player. Laughably outnumbered at the start of the game they must seek new allies in which to build new units, and increase Reputation.  All without hinting at where their secret base is.

Rebel leaders can get captured, interrogated for information, rescued, and Farmboy Luke can get trained by Yoda and turn into Awesome Jedi Luke. A lot of cool things go on in this game. One of the only downsides is the playtime tends to run long, in the 2-3 hours range. It doesn't drag, there is very little downtime for the players, it just can go for a bit.

In our most recent game, the Rebels got Mon Calamari early and started to produce Cruisers, which the Imperial player disliked. With his fleet tied up fighting the Rebel fleet, he sent that ambassador of good will, Grand Moff Tarkin and the Death Star. Boom goes the planet. Which the Secret Rebel Base was also on. Propper win for the Empire!  

Star Wars: Rebellion is a very good game. It is as playable with 3 or 4 players as it is with 2. The game is easy to get into, and offers lots of choices during play.
Highly recommend.

Go Roll Some Dice

And Blow Up Some Planets